Thyme After Time: V-Day in C-Town Part One

Beer Steamed Mussels

Beer Foccacia Bread

Beer Coated Candied Nuts

Homemade Roquefort Dressing

Wedge Salad

It was a cold winter's day. Valentine's Day was coming up fast and I had no idea what I was going to do. I had spent the last two weeks trying to fix a slowly dying computer to no avail. A new one proved to be just as stubborn. It, too, had a mind of it's own and decided when it wanted to run the apps, not me. Technology. It'll be the death of mankind someday, I thought, even if just from pure frustration.

So, I finally got back to the agenda at hand...V-day. It fell during the week, so I would have to think fast and organize something to celebrate early, on a Sunday, when I had the entire day free. I had to do some research. I wasn't the hearts and flowers kind of a gal.....the thought of those almost naked cherubs flying around me, pointing arrows at me was disturbing at best.

I wanted to make something with substance; something that would make his mouth water at just the thought. My mind was a smoke-filled haze with wisps of inspiration that disappeared as quickly as they had come. I hadn't had much time to cook lately, let alone look for inspiration, so we found ourselves at late-night joints ordering up greasy burgers with pints of beer to wash them down.

Beer...now that was something that sparked some interest. Beer....it's been here as long as anyone can remember (with the exception of the brief time The 18th Amendment went into effect. Even then, it was still available, just not legal.) It could be that lead I was looking for. It may help me with what I needed most....A Valentine's Dinner.

My partner and I set out. He knew the ins and outs of beer. He knew who to talk to and he knew what to drink. It was life on the beat.

We decided to go local. Although Valentine's Day had it's stories elsewhere, this was ours. This was C-town, a town of eternal hope despite many let downs; a town of hard workers; a town of good, solid, beer drinking people. They deserved beer for their dinner. They deserved the best and the best was brewed right here.

So there, they were, the chosen four. The four local beers we would use in our dinner. They were lined up and ready to go to work. For Valentine's Day, we weren't even in C-town anymore...it was now Flavor-town, paley!

So, as I sit here, beer in hand, I leave you with this before we feast...

Beer, beer! You make me cheer.

You've been there for me year after year.

From Grover Cleveland to Eliot Ness,

Through Prohibition to Bearing Witness

Our brewers work hard day after day

To locally brew in the Cleveland way

So, to you, our local brewers, I tip my stein

and wish all of you a Happy Valentine's!

Now...onto the food!!!!!!

Our Menu for this evening

Appetizer..Mussel-Ness (Mussels in a garlic, beer reduction)

Bread...Al Fa-caughtchya Bread (Foccacia Bread made with an unfiltered local ale)

Salad...Elliot Nut Salad (Beer coated nuts, cranberries and bacon bits with homemade Roquefort dressing over a wedge of iceberg)

Main Course... Blackout Sam Short Ribs with cheddar polenta

(Short Ribs braised in an Imperial Stout Beer that has been aged in bourbon barrels over a creamy white cheddar and parmesan polenta)

Dessert...Speakeasy Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

(Chocolate cake made with a Hazelnut Prohibition Pauley Porter with a nutella, cream cheese filling and fresh whipped cream)

Mussel-Ness

It took a hell of a man to take on the mafia, illegal gambling, illegal liquor sales, a once corrupt Cleveland Police Department, a serial killer and to top it off, Cleveland drivers. It takes a lot of mussels and maybe even a beer or two.

In the present...well...we caught a serial killer.

Ingredients

2 Garlic cloves

Olive oil

1 Bottle (minus 1/3 cup I used for Eliot's Nuts) Amber Lager

(I used Eliot Ness from Great Lakes Brewing Company)

Bay Leaf

Ancho Chili Powder

Red Pepper Flakes

Parsley, chopped

Heat olive oil over medium heat in a large pot.

Add garlic and saute for about a minute.

Sprinkle Chili Powder and Red Pepper Flakes over garlic. Add bay leaf.

Add bottle of beer and let the alcohol cook down and flavors concentrate.

Add mussels and cover for about 5 minutes.

Uncover pot, sprinkle parsley over mussels.

Taste and adjust flavoring

Serve with fresh bread and an ice cold beer (or two)

Al Fa-Caughtchya Bread

or Ale Foccacia Bread

This bread turned out to be everything a good foccacia bread should be. It's crispy, chewy, flavorful. You can taste the rosemary and the beer but it's not overpowering.

Al, on the other hand, well we all know how he turned out (and how he was caught).

For this recipe, I used an ale made by a local brewery (Indigo Imp) called Blonde Bombshell. Its brewed in open fermenters, is unfiltered and unpasteurized and has a wonderfully wild character...plus you need a blond bombshell every once in a gangster story, even if you only use her to make bread.

Ingredients

1 Bottle of openly fermented, unfiltered, unpasteurized beer such as Blonde Bombshell

1 Pkg Active Dry Yeast or 2 1/4 tsp

1 tbs Sugar

1/4 c Extra Virgin Olive Oil

3 3/4 c Flour

1 tsp Salt

1 tbs Fresh Rosemary chopped fine

1 tsp Coarse Sea Salt

Warm the bottle of beer slightly, either in a pan or the microwave.

Stir in the yeast, sugar, and 3 tbs of olive oil.

Set aside to proof.

Mix 3 c flour with salt and then make a well. Add the beer mixture. Stir until combined.

Knead dough for several minutes, using the extra flour as needed to keep dough from being overly sticky.

Once dough is smooth and elastic, place in an oiled bowl and cover with plastic. Let it ride in a warm spot for 1 1/2 to 2 hours, until doubled in size.

Coat a large baking sheet with olive oil and place flour on it. Stretch dough to fit entire length of pan.

Use fingers to create random wells in the dough. Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and rosemary.

Cover and let rise another half hour.

Meanwhile preheat oven to 450 degrees for at least 30 minutes with a baking stone inside.

Bake bread for 15 minutes.

Eat warm!

Eliot Nut Salad

Eliot Nuts

These nuts are the perfect accent in the salad below. If you can't find Eliot Ness Lager by Great Lakes, try a similar amber lager that has some nutty undertones. You would probably then need to rename your nuts at this point. Amber Nutty Nuts? Nut Brown Nuts? Brown Beer Nuts?...I'll let you decide.

Once you make these, you will have far more nuts than your salads can take. These are good all on their own and make a great snack. Eat them while watching a game, fighting government corruption or starting your own brewing business...Oh and by the way, they go great with beer.